PC treatment resulted in both the prevention of progression of pre-existing cardiac hypertrophy and the development of heart failure, compared with improvement in progression to heart failure by EP alone. These beneficial findings in heart were associated with inhibition of PKCα activation and reversal of gene alterations.

A caspase-dependent, apoptotic pathway is important for N-CM death, whereas a caspase-independent, AIF-mediated pathway plays a critical role in H-CMs.

We performed a retrospective study of the engraftment syndrome (ES) as defined by the Spitzer Criteria in adult patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for various hematological malignancies at a single institution, over a decade, and analyzed its relationship to acute GVHD; 217 patients underwent either myeloablative (38.7%) or reduced intensity (61.3%) HCT; 22.1% met the criteria for ES. Acute GVHD prophylaxis (P 5 0.006) and transplants prior to 2006 (P < 0.0001) were significantly associated with a risk of ES in univariable analysis. Early aGVHD within 4 weeks of engraftment was significantly more common in the ES compared to the non ES cohort (21 vs. 8.3% respectively, P 5 0.02). ES did not predict for future GVHD, as at day 1180, the cumulative incidences of grades II-IV aGVHD (31 vs. 23%, P 5 0.19) and of chronic GVHD at 2 years of engraftment (42 vs. 36%, P 5 0.28) were not significantly different between the ES and non ES groups, respectively. No significant differences in NRM, overall survival and progression-free survival were observed between the two groups. Although predictive of early aGVHD, ES occurred independently of GVHD in 79% of the patients. Survival outcomes should be evaluated in a larger randomized study to investigate if there is a correlation with ES.

No abstract

Apoptosis plays an important role in various cardiovascular diseases, and inhibition of cardiac apoptosis shows promise as a therapeutic strategy. Caspase, a critical enzyme in the induction and execution of apoptosis, has been targeted to inhibit apoptosis. However a newly recognized caspase-independent apoptosis pathway may also play an important role in cardiac apoptosis. Yet the mechanism and the potential significance of caspase-independent apoptosis in the heart remain poorly understood. In this paper, we reviewed the literatures on the mechanism of caspase-independent apoptosis and its significance in cardiovascular diseases.